Department: Purchasing
Department Head/Elected Official: DeWight Dopslauf
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Purchase Order
Project ID (if applicable): N/a
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): Comprehensive Communication Services, LLC
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: 0% - Non-Divisible
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for approval of a State of Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) Cooperative Contract purchase on the basis of only quote from Comprehensive Communication Services, LLC in the amount of $279,248 for 9-1-1 response system for the Sheriff’s Office for the period of September 13, 2022 - September 12, 2023 with four (4) one-year renewal options.
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Background and Discussion:
Reverse 911 is a necessary public safety service that allows governmental agencies to communicate with the community during an emergency. Reverse 911 provides the county the functionality to send text messages and phone calls to cell phones and landlines within the county’s jurisdiction, and to County staff members.
Since September 2009, the Sheriff has partnered with the Greater Harris County 911 to provide reverse 911 service through the vendor Motorola. Motorola has sunset the application Greater Harris County 911 utilized and the organization has decided to discontinue the partnership, resulting in a need for the Sheriff to purchase a new reverse 911 system for the County’s 911 call center.
Expected Impact:
The Rave Smart911 service is compatible with all governmental agency partners within the Sheriff’s jurisdiction, due to a school system panic button which requires the Sheriff’s 911 call center to have the same system in order to receive the alert.
Rave Smart911 will support the County priority outcomes of supporting victims in dangerous situations, reducing unnecessary exposure to the criminal justice system, and providing outstanding customer service through enhanced safety and citizen profile features.Overall, the Smart911 system would provide an exponential improvement in communication and response abilities for schools and emergency responders in a school emergency. The Smart911 system allows school districts within the jurisdiction panic button functionality that communicates with the 911-call center and allows dispatchers to text lockdown status to a school in the instance of a local threat. School districts would also have the functionality to upload school floorplans, safety profile, and emergency contact into the system, which would be shared with Harris County dispatch in the event of a school emergency.
The proposed solution includes new citizen-related capabilities that both reduce unnecessary exposure to the criminal justice system and improve customer service. The system allows community members to register a unique profile with known emergency medical issues - such as known allergies to medicines and mental health concerns - that is transferable to all jurisdictions that use Smart911. The Harris County 911 call center would be able to see mental health and allergy information about a Denver, Colorado resident who has a Smart911 profile and calls for emergency services. The same would be true for a Harris County resident with a profile that visits Denver and calls 911. Finally, the system allows residents to display notifications on a map and provide a list of all historic notifications.
Alternative Options:
The Sheriff’s Office reviewed the Motorola solution that replaces the sunsetting application, and found it is not compatible with all governmental agencies within the 911 call center jurisdiction and does not provide the safety and citizen-related capabilities that are expected and necessary in the current times. The Motorola solution does not have panic button or information sharing school safety functionality. Many of the citizen related capabilities provided by the Motorola solution are either in progress or on a roadmap for which no timeline is available. Under the Motorola solution, citizens would not be able to create unique profiles that follow them to other jurisdictions, see notifications on a map, or provide a list of all historic notifications.
Alignment with Goal(s):
X Justice and Safety
_ Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
_ Transportation
_ Flooding
_ Environment
_ Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any): N/A
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Action Taken |
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Location: Sheriff’s Office
Address (if applicable): N/A
Precinct(s): Choose an item.
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Service Name |
Dispatch and Communications |
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SFY 22 |
FY 23 |
Next 3 FYs |
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Incremental Expenditures (do NOT write values in thousands or millions) |
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Labor Expenditures |
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Non-Labor Expenditures |
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Total Incremental Expenditures |
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Funding Sources (do NOT write values in thousands or millions) |
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Existing Budget |
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1000 - General Fund |
$ |
$279,248 |
$ |
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$ |
$ |
$ |
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$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Current Budget |
$ |
$279,248 |
$ |
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Additional Budget Requested |
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Other |
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$ |
$ |
$ |
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$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Additional Budget Requested |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Funding Sources |
$ |
$279,248 |
$ |
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Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
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Current Position Count for Service |
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Additional Positions Requested |
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Total Personnel |
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Anticipated Court Date: September 13, 2022
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date):
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Michael Lanham, Director of Finance, Sheriff’s Office;
Jorge Geronimo, Contracts Administrator, Purchasing
Attachments (if applicable): Letter and Quote Tabulation